Paper pallet

ABSTRACT

A paper pallet made of paper includes two supporting stringers and a plurality of deck rods. The supporting stringers extend horizontally in a first direction, and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction transverse to the first direction. The deck rods extend horizontally in the second direction, are arranged in the first direction, and are disposed on and connected to top surfaces of the supporting stringers. Each deck rod includes an elongated plate portion elongated in the second direction and having two elongated outer edges opposite to each other in the first direction and two elongated tubular portions. The elongated tubular portions of each deck rod are disposed juxtaposed with each other in the first direction. Each elongated tubular portion of each deck rod extends from a respective one of the elongated outer edges and is bent into a rectangular tubular structure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 111103379, filed on Jan. 26, 2022 and Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 112100741, filed on Jan. 7, 2023.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a pallet, and more particularly to a paper pallet.

BACKGROUND

Generally, existing pallets are made of wood or plastic, and the pallets made of wood usually are relatively heavy in weight and are not easy to be moved. Although the pallets made of plastic are durable and are lighter in weight than the pallets made of wood, it is difficult to repair cracked portions of the plastic pallets, and the plastic pallets are usually discarded once being damaged, which is not very environmentally friendly.

In recent years, paper pallets that are relatively lightweight, that are recyclable, and that cost relatively little to manufacture have been developed. However, since structural strength of the paper pallets is lower than those of the wooden and plastic pallets, metal sticks, such as steel rods or aluminum rods, are inserted into the paper pallets so as to increase the structural strength of the paper pallets. However, such design that inserts the metal sticks into the paper pallets not only increases the total weight of the paper pallets, but also increases the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a paper pallet that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art. According to the disclosure, a paper pallet is provided to include two supporting stringers and a plurality of deck rods. The supporting stringers are made of paper, extend horizontally in a first direction, and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction transverse to the first direction. The deck rods are made of paper, extend horizontally in the second direction, are arranged in the first direction, and are disposed on and connected to top surfaces of the supporting stringers. Each of the deck rods includes an elongated plate portion and two elongated tubular portions. The elongated plate portion of each of the deck rods is elongated in the second direction and has two elongated outer edges opposite to each other in the first direction. The elongated tubular portions of each of the deck rods are juxtaposed with each other in the first direction. Each of the elongated tubular portions includes an elongated outer side wall that extends vertically and downwardly from a respective one of the elongated outer edges, an elongated outer bottom wall that extends horizontally toward the other one of the elongated tubular portions from a bottom end of the elongated outer side wall, an elongated neighboring wall that extends vertically and upwardly from the elongated outer bottom wall and that is in contact with the elongated neighboring wall of the other one of the elongated tubular portions, an elongated upper wall that extends from the elongated neighboring wall toward the elongated outer side wall, that is disposed under, parallel to and in contact with a bottom surface of the elongated plate portion, an elongated inner side wall that extends downwardly from the elongated upper wall and that is in contact with the elongated outer side wall, an elongated inner lower wall that extends from the elongated inner side wall toward the elongated neighboring wall and that is disposed over, parallel to and in contact with the elongated outer bottom wall, an elongated inclined wall that extends inclinedly and upwardly from the elongated inner lower wall to the elongated upper wall and that has an upper end abutting against the elongated upper wall, and an elongated slanting wall that extends downwardly and inclinedly from the upper end of the elongated inclined wall to an intersection between the elongated inner side wall and the elongated inner lower wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment(s) with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that various features may not be drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is a partly exploded perspective view of a paper pallet of a first embodiment according to the present disclosure, illustrating a plurality of deck rods disposed on two supporting stringers and an intermediate stringer.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a cardboard to be folded into one of the deck rods of the paper pallet of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front view of the first embodiment, illustrating one of the deck rods of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating one of the deck rods of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partly exploded perspective view of a paper pallet of a second embodiment according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the second embodiment, illustrating a plurality of spacing seats of the paper pallet arranged alternately with the deck rods.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the second embodiment, illustrating one of the spacing seats of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view illustrating one of the spacing seats of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is partly exploded side view of a paper pallet of a third embodiment according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.

It should be noted herein that for clarity of description, spatially relative terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “on,” “above,” “over,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” and the like may be used throughout the disclosure while making reference to the features as illustrated in the drawings. The features may be oriented differently e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations and the spatially relative terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , a paper pallet 200 of a first embodiment according to the present disclosure includes two supporting stringers 3 and an intermediate stringer 4 that are made of paper and that extend horizontally in a first direction 901, and a plurality of deck rods 5 that are made of paper. The supporting stringers 3 are spaced apart from each other in a second direction 902 transverse to the first direction 901. The intermediate stringer 4 is disposed between and spaced apart from the supporting stringers 3. The deck rods 5 extend horizontally in the second direction 902, are arranged in the first direction 901, and are disposed on and connected to top surfaces of the supporting stringers 3 and a top surface of the intermediate stringer 4. In the first embodiment, the deck rods 5 are connected fixedly to the top surfaces of the supporting stringers 3 and the top surface of the intermediate stringer 4 by an adhesive.

In the first embodiment, the supporting stringers 3 and the intermediate stringer 4 are constructed by a plurality of elongated upright cardboards (not depicted in the drawing) that extend horizontally in the first direction 901 and that are stacked on one another in the second direction 902. The cardboards are, for examples, corrugated papers and is not limited thereto. Since the main feature of the present disclosure does not reside in the structures of the supporting stringers 3 and the intermediate stringer 4, further details and variations of the same are not described for the sake of brevity.

Since the structures of each of the deck rods 5 are identical, only one of the deck rods 5 will be described in the following description throughout the specification for the sake of brevity.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the deck rod 5 is constructed by folding a cardboard 50 in a particular sequence and includes an elongated plate portion 51, two elongated tubular portions 52, and two first end caps 53. The elongated plate portion 51 is elongated in the second direction 902, and has two elongated outer edges 511 that are opposite to each other in the first direction 901 and two connecting outer ends 512 that are opposite to each other in the second direction 902 and that are connected between the elongated outer edges 511. In this embodiment, the cardboard 50 is, e.g., corrugated paper and the present disclosure is not limited to this example.

As shown in FIG. 4 , The elongated tubular portions 52 are juxtaposed with each other in the first direction 901 and are connected respectively to the elongated outer edges 511.

Each of the elongated tubular portions 52 is bent into a rectangular tubular structure and has two first open ends 520 (see FIG. 3 ) spaced apart from each other in the second direction 902. Each of the elongated tubular portions 52 includes an elongated outer side wall 521 that extends vertically and downwardly from a respective one of the elongated outer edges 511, an elongated outer bottom wall 522 that extends horizontally toward the other one of the elongated tubular portions 52 from a bottom end of the elongated outer side wall 521, an elongated neighboring wall 523 that extends vertically and upwardly from the elongated outer bottom wall 522 and that is in contact with the elongated neighboring wall 523 of the other one of the elongated tubular portions 52, an elongated upper wall 524 that extends from the elongated neighboring wall 523 toward the elongated outer side wall 521, that is disposed under, parallel to and in contact with a bottom surface of the elongated plate portion 51, an elongated inner side wall 525 that extends downwardly from the elongated upper wall 524 and that is in contact with the elongated outer side wall 521, an elongated inner lower wall 526 that extends from the elongated inner side wall 525 toward the elongated neighboring wall 523 and that is disposed over, parallel to and in contact with the elongated outer bottom wall 522, an elongated inclined wall 527 that extends inclinedly and upwardly from the elongated inner lower wall 526 to the elongated upper wall 524 and that has an upper end abutting against the elongated upper wall 524, and an elongated slanting wall 528 that extends downwardly and inclinedly from the upper end of the elongated inclined wall 527 to an intersection between the elongated inner side wall 525 and the elongated inner lower wall 526.

Each of the first end caps 53 extends downwardly from a respective one of the connecting outer ends 512 to cover one of the first open ends 520 of one of the elongated tubular portions 52 and one of the first open ends 520 of the other one of the elongated tubular portions 52.

By virtue of the structure of the elongated tubular portions 52 that are disposed side-by-side under the elongated plate portion 51, and the fact that the deck rod 5 is constructed by folding the cardboard 50 in sequence, a relatively strong structural strength may be achieved without using metal sticks, and a load capacity of the paper pallet 200 is relatively high while the weight of the paper pallet 200 is not increased.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of the intermediated rod 4 may be increased or the intermediate rod 4 may entirely be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 5 to 8 , a paper pallet 200 of a second embodiment according to the present disclosure is similar to the first embodiment and the difference therebetween resides in that the second embodiment further includes a plurality of spacing seats 6. To simplify the description, only the differences between first embodiment and the second embodiment will be described below.

The spacing seats 6 are made of paper, are disposed on and connected to the top surfaces of the supporting stringers 3 and the top surface of the intermediate stringer 4, and are arranged alternately with the deck rods 5 in the first direction 901. In the second embodiment, the spacing seats 6 are also connected fixedly to the top surfaces of the supporting stringers 3 and the top surface of the intermediate stringer 4 by an adhesive.

Since the structures of each of the spacing seats 6 are identical, only one of the spacing seats 6 will be described in the following description throughout the specification for the sake of brevity.

The spacing seat 6 is also constructed by folding a cardboard and has a structure identical to that of each of the deck rods 5. In this embodiment, the spacing seat 6 has a length shorter than that of each of the deck rods 5 in the second direction 902, and is identical to that of the top surface of each of the supporting stringers 3 and that of the top surface of the intermediate stringer 4 in the second direction 902.

The spacing seat 6 includes a short plate portion 61, two short tubular portions 62, and two second end caps 63. The short plate portion 61 extends horizontally in the second direction 902 and is co-planar with top surfaces of a corresponding adjacent pair of the deck rods 5. The short plate portion 61 has two short outer edges 611 spaced apart from each other in the first direction 901 and parallel to each other, and two connecting ends 612 opposite to each other in the second direction 902, parallel to each other, and connected between the short outer edges 611. The short tubular portions 62 are disposed side-by-side in the first direction 901 and in contact with a bottom surface of the short plate portion 61, and respectively abut against a corresponding adjacent pair of the deck rods 5. Each of the short tubular portions 62 extends from a respective one of the short outer edges 611 and is bent into a rectangular tubular structure.

Each of the short tubular portions 62 has two second open ends 620 spaced apart from each other in the second direction 902 and includes a short outer side wall 621, a short outer bottom wall 622, a short neighboring wall 623, a short upper wall 624, a short inner side wall 625, a short inner lower wall 626, a short inclined wall 627, and a short slanting wall 628. For each of the short tubular portions 62, the short outer side wall 621 extends vertically and downwardly from the respective one of the short outer edges 611, the short outer bottom wall 622 extends horizontally toward the other one of the short tubular portions 62 from a bottom end of the short outer side wall 621, the short neighboring wall 623 extends vertically and upwardly from the short outer bottom wall 622 and is in contact with the short neighboring wall 623 of the other one of the short tubular portions 62, the short upper wall 624 extends from the short neighboring wall 623 toward the short outer side wall 621 and is disposed under, parallel to and in contact with the bottom surface of the short plate portion 61, the short inner side wall 625 extends downwardly from the short upper wall 624 and is in contact with the short outer side wall 621, the short inner lower wall 626 extends from the short inner side wall 625 toward the short neighboring wall 623 and is disposed over, parallel to and in contact with the short outer bottom wall 622, the short inclined wall 627 extends inclinedly and upwardly from the short inner lower wall 626 to the short upper wall 624 and has an upper end abutting against the short upper wall 624, and the short slanting wall 628 extends downwardly and inclinedly from the upper end of the short inclined wall 627 to an intersection between the short inner side wall 625 and the short inner lower wall 626.

Each of the second end caps 63 extends downwardly from a respective one of the connecting ends 612 to cover one of the second open ends 620 of one of the short tubular portions 62 and one of the second open ends 620 of the other one of the short tubular portions 62.

By virtue of the design and arrangement of the spacing seats 6 that are disposed alternately with the deck rods 5, the stability of the deck rods 5 being connected to the supporting stringers 3 and the intermediate stringer 4 may be increased and the structural strength of the paper pallet 200 is also increased.

It should be noted that in some embodiments of the present application, the spacing seat 6 may have a structure different from that of the deck rod 5, for example, the detailed structure of the short tubular portions 62 may be modified.

Referring to FIG. 9 , a paper pallet 200 of a third embodiment according to the present disclosure is similar to the first embodiment and the differences between the first embodiment and the third embodiment reside in the following. In the third embodiment, the paper pallet 200 further includes a top plate 7, and the deck rods 5 are arranged in a different manner.

Specifically, in the third embodiment, every two of the deck rods 5 are arranged juxtaposed with each other to form one deck rod set 54 such that a plurality of the deck rod sets 54 are arranged to be spaced apart from one another in the second direction 902 and the deck rod sets 54 are disposed on the supporting stringers 3 and the intermediate stringer 4. The top plate 7 is disposed fixedly on and covering a top surface of each of the deck rods 5.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, two or more deck rods 5 are arranged to be side-by-side with one another to form one deck rod set 54, and a plurality of the deck rod sets 54 are similarly spaced apart from one another and are disposed on the supporting stringers 3 and the intermediate stringer 4. The present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

In addition, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, waterproof paint may be coated on one of the supporting stringers 3, the intermediate stringer 4, the deck rods 5, the spacing seats 6, the outer surface of the top plate 7 and a combination thereof, to thereby making the paper pallet 200 waterproof and/or water resistant.

In summary, by virtue of the structural design of the deck rod 5 that is constructed by folding the cardboard 50 in sequence, a structural strength of the deck rod 5 is relatively strong without inserting metal sticks therein. Therefore, the paper pallet 200 has a relatively good load capacity while being relatively lightweight. Furthermore, each of the spacing seats 6, which is also constructed by folding a cardboard, which is identical in structure to each of the deck rods 5, and which is disposed between the corresponding adjacent pair of the deck rods 5, also enhances the structural strength of the paper pallet 200.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects; such does not mean that every one of these features needs to be practiced with the presence of all the other features. In other words, in any described embodiment, when implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect implementation of another one or more features or specific details, said one or more features may be singled out and practiced alone without said another one or more features or specific details. It should be further noted that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is(are) considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A paper pallet, comprising: two supporting stringers that are made of paper, that extend horizontally in a first direction, and that are spaced apart from each other in a second direction transverse to the first direction; and a plurality of deck rods hat are made of paper, that extend horizontally in the second direction, that are arranged in the first direction, and that are disposed on and connected to top surfaces of said supporting stringers, each of said deck rods including: an elongated plate portion that is elongated in the second direction and that has two elongated outer edges opposite to each other in the first direction, and two elongated tubular portions that are juxtaposed with each other in the first direction, each of said elongated tubular portions including: an elongated outer side wall that extends vertically and downwardly from a respective one of said elongated outer edges, an elongated outer bottom wall that extends horizontally toward the other one of said elongated tubular portions from a bottom end of said elongated outer side wall, an elongated neighboring wall that extends vertically and upwardly from said elongated outer bottom wall and that is in contact with said elongated neighboring wall of the other one of said elongated tubular portions, an elongated upper wall that extends from said elongated neighboring wall toward said elongated outer side wall, that is disposed under, parallel to and in contact with a bottom surface of said elongated plate portion, an elongated inner side wall that extends downwardly from said elongated upper wall and that is in contact with said elongated outer side wall, an elongated inner lower wall that extends from said elongated inner side wall toward said elongated neighboring wall and that is disposed over, parallel to and in contact with said elongated outer bottom wall, an elongated inclined wall that extends inclinedly and upwardly from said elongated inner lower wall to said elongated upper wall and that has an upper end abutting against said elongated upper wall, and an elongated slanting wall that extends downwardly and inclinedly from said upper end of said elongated inclined wall to an intersection between said elongated inner side wall and said elongated inner lower wall.
 2. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said elongated tubular portions has two first open ends spaced apart from each other in the second direction, each of said deck rods further including two first end caps that are connected to and cover said first open ends of each of said elongated tubular portion.
 3. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 2, wherein: for each of said deck rods, said elongated plate portion further has two connecting outer ends opposite to each other in the second direction and connected between said elongated outer edges; and for each of said deck rods, each of said first end caps extends downwardly from a respective one of said connecting outer ends to cover one of said first open ends of one of said elongated tubular portions and one of said first open ends of the other one of said elongated tubular portions.
 4. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of spacing seats made of paper, disposed on and connected to said top surfaces of said supporting stringers, and arranged alternately with said deck rods in the first direction.
 5. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said spacing seats includes: a short plate portion that extends horizontally and that has two short outer edges spaced apart from each other in the first direction and parallel to each other; and two short tubular portions, each of which extends from a respective one of said short outer edges and is bent into a rectangular tubular structure, said short tubular portions being disposed side-by-side in the first direction under and in contact with a bottom surface of said short plate portion, and respectively abutting against a corresponding adjacent pair of said deck rods.
 6. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of said short tubular portions includes: a short outer side wall that extends vertically and downwardly from the respective one of said short outer edges; a short outer bottom wall that extends horizontally toward the other one of said short tubular portions from a bottom end of said short outer side wall; a short neighboring wall that extends vertically and upwardly from said short outer bottom wall and that is in contact with said short neighboring wall (623) of the other one of said short tubular portions; a short upper wall that extends from said short neighboring wall toward said short outer side wall and that is disposed under, parallel to and in contact with said bottom surface of said short plate portion; a short inner side wall that extends downwardly from said short upper wall and that is in contact with said short outer side wall; a short inner lower wall that extends from said short inner side wall toward said short neighboring wall and that is disposed over, parallel to and in contact with said short outer bottom wall; a short inclined wall that extends inclinedly and upwardly from said short inner lower wall to said short upper wall and that has an upper end abutting against said short upper wall; and a short slanting wall that extends downwardly and inclinedly from said upper end of said short inclined wall to an intersection between said short inner side wall and said short inner lower wall.
 7. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of said short tubular portions has two second open ends spaced apart from each other in the second direction, each of said spacing seats further including two second end caps that are connected to and cover said second open ends of each of said short tubular portions.
 8. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 7, wherein; for each of said spacing seats, said short plate portion further has two connecting ends opposite to each other in the second direction and connected between said short outer edges; and for each of said deck rods, each of said second end caps extends downwardly from a respective one of said connecting ends to cover one of said second open ends of one of said short tubular portions and one of said second open ends of the other one of said short tubular portions.
 9. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an intermediate stringer that is made of paper, that extends horizontally in the first direction, and that is disposed between and spaced apart from said supporting stringers, said deck rods being disposed on and connected to a top surface of said intermediated stringer.
 10. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a plurality of spacing seats made of paper, disposed on and connected to said top surfaces of said supporting stringers and said intermediate stringer, and arranged alternately with said deck rods in the first direction.
 11. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 10, wherein each of said spacing seats includes: a short plate portion that extends horizontally and that has two short outer edges spaced apart from each other in the first direction and parallel to each other; and two short tubular portions, each of which extends from a respective one of said short outer edges and is bent into a rectangular tubular structure, said short tubular portions being disposed side-by-side in the first direction under and in contact with a bottom surface of said short plate portion, and respectively abutting against a corresponding adjacent pair of said deck rods.
 12. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 11, wherein each of said short tubular portions includes: a short outer side wall that extends vertically and downwardly from the respective one of said short outer edges; a short outer bottom wall that extends horizontally toward the other one of said short tubular portions from a bottom end of said short outer side wall; a short neighboring wall that extends vertically and upwardly from said short outer bottom wall and that is in contact with said short neighboring wall of the other one of said short tubular portions; a short upper wall that extends from said short neighboring wall toward said short outer side wall and that is disposed under, parallel to and in contact with said bottom surface of said short plate portion; a short inner side wall that extends downwardly from said short upper wall and that is in contact with said short outer side wall; a short inner lower wall that extends from said short inner side wall toward said short neighboring wall and that is disposed over, parallel to and in contact with said short outer bottom wall; a short inclined wall that extends inclinedly and upwardly from said short inner lower wall to said short upper wall and that has an upper end abutting against said short upper wall; and a short slanting wall that extends downwardly and inclinedly from said upper end of said short inclined wall to an intersection between said short inner side wall and said short inner lower wall.
 13. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of said short tubular portions has two second open ends spaced apart from each other in the second direction, each of said spacing seats further including two second end caps that are respectively connected to and respectively cover said second open ends of said short tubular portions.
 14. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 13, wherein: for each of said spacing seats, said short plate portion further has two connecting ends opposite to each other in the second direction and connected between said short outer edges; and for each of said deck rods, each of said second end caps extends downwardly from a respective one of said connecting ends to cover the respective one of said second open ends.
 15. The paper pallet as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a top deck board disposed on and covering said deck rods. 